'It's the hairy monster,' Charlotte whispered to the others.
'Let me see,' Margaret shoved her out of the way and peered through the trees. 'Ew, it's so hairy and its singing really is terrible.'
Charlotte stepped into the clearing and walked towards the hairy monster. He was singing loudly, as he danced around the clearing. On seeing Charlotte he stopped still and peered down at her.
'Ah, a visitor. No doubt you heard my delightful singing and just had to see where it came from?' he said in a deep voice.
'Ah, yes,' Charlotte smiled.
'I inherited my voice from my mother's, father's, mother's sister. She was a delightful singer, just as I am.'
'Your singing is very lovely,' Charlotte said.
'We were wondering if we could please have your hat?' Stef said bluntly.
'My hat,' the monster clutched onto it tightly. 'This is a very special hat, it was passed down to me from my father's, cousin’s, brother's, great-grandmonster.'
'Look, we are in a hurry and we need it now, so pass it over,' Margaret said.
'I shall do no such thing!'
'It's not even a nice hat and your singing is the worst that I've ever heard,' Margaret said.
'How dare you,' the hairy monster opened its mouth wide and burped loudly over the girls.
They all ran in disgust, except for Charlotte.
'We could do a swap,' Charlotte took off her witches’ hat and held it up to the hairy monster.
He bent down and took it off her and lifted it up to his face and examined it.
'Interesting,' he muttered. 'Very interesting.'
He took his top hat off and threw it down to Charlotte and he placed the witches’ hat on top of his head.
'Yes, I prefer this hat to my last one,' he muttered to himself before he walked off singing.
Gripping the hairy monster's hat, Charlotte hurried after the others. She was proud of herself for what she'd achieved so far and she couldn't hide her smile.
'My hair stinks of monster burp,' Demi sniffed at a strand.
'And your nose is as red as Rudolph’s,' Stef chuckled.
'Is it that bad?' Demi asked Charlotte.
'No, it's not that bad,' Charlotte replied, as she looked at the bright red bump on the end of her nose.
'Why are you so happy?' Margaret asked her.
'Because I have this,' she held up the hairy monster's hat.
'Well done Charlotte!' Stef said.
'Yeah, good one,' Demi smiled.
Alice tried to say something but she still couldn't talk so instead she gave Charlotte a thumbs-up.
'Stop wasting time and hurry-up,' Margaret shouted, before she snatched the hairy monster's hat from Charlotte and walked off into the forest.
'Moody Margaret strikes again,' Stef muttered to Charlotte and they both chuckled.
'If the boys beat us then it will be all your fault because you keep slowing us down,' she turned around and shot Charlotte a stern look.
'Charlotte's the one who got the ogre’s tears, who milked the toad's wart and she also got the monster's hat. She also flew past a crazed tree to rescue you when you were stupid enough to let that branch snap your broomstick. So if we lose, it definitely won't be Charlotte's fault, it will be yours!' Stef shouted at her.
'Whatever,' Margaret scowled, before she turned her head back and hurried forwards.
Charlotte and Stef walked alongside each other, both of them glad to have each other.
'Over there,' Demi pointed forwards.
The other girls followed her arm over to two black cauldrons that were in a small clearing up ahead. They all noticed that the boys weren't there.
'Easy,' Margaret smirked, as she looked over at the cauldron.
The other girls jumped onto their broomsticks and flew off towards it. Charlotte waited for Margaret to get onto the back of her broomstick but instead she pushed her over and yanked the broomstick from her.
Charlotte watched dumbfounded as Margaret flew off.
She chewed on the side of her lip as she got back onto her feet and began to walk over to the cauldron. She went to move her foot but it wouldn't budge, she looked down to see that it had been engulfed beneath the ground by a grainy looking substance.
'Quicksand,' Charlotte shouted out, as she struggled to pull her foot free and found herself being pulled further and further into the quicksand.
'Charlotte, we'll come and get you,' Stef shouted.
'No, the boy's aren't here yet. You've got to finish off the potion.'
Stef gave a reluctant nod before she turned her focus back to the cauldron.
'It will be okay,' Charlotte muttered to herself, as she tried to pull her leg free.
She sunk deeper and deeper into the sand. She held tightly onto her wand and tried to think up a spell, she was about to use one...when the sand sucked her in lower and engulfed her arms. The quicksand pulled her in even deeper until it had reached her shoulders.
'Girls,' a panicked Charlotte shouted over to them. 'Girls help me!' she screamed.
Stef, Alice and Demi saw Charlotte's situation and immediately stopped working on the potion and flew over to help her.
Margaret briefly looked up from the cauldron before she shrugged and carried on with the potion.
Stef, Alice and Demi flew above Charlotte and tried to yank her out. She budged a little bit, but then Alice misjudged her balance and toppled off into the quicksand. It quickly began to pull her in and she flailed out her arms in panic.
'Margaret,' Stef shouted over to her. 'Margaret, we could do with your help right about NOW.'
Margaret heard Stef, but chose to ignore her, concentrating on the potion instead.
The boy's team appeared on their broomsticks, and they immediately began to work together to measure out their ingredients and to add them to their potion. Charlie was so focused on winning that he didn’t even notice that Charlotte and Alice were in the quicksand.
'One, more, pull,' Stef grunted, as she pulled as hard as she could on Charlotte's arms, pulling them completely free.
Charlotte grabbed onto Stef's broomstick and she pulled her out of the sand. They flew over to Demi and helped to pull Alice out of the quicksand and up onto the back of Demi's broomstick.
The girls quickly flew over to Margaret and helped her to finish off the potion. Charlotte resisted looking over at Charlie and instead focused on helping her team.
Margaret stirred their potion and they all looked down into it, hoping that it was correct.
Suddenly a golden wand floated out of the girls' cauldron, it shot out gold and silver stars at the girls' heads and they looked up in awe as the stars danced around them.
'We've done it,' Stef cheered, as she grabbed Charlotte and hugged her.
'Yay, we did it and I can talk,' Alice jumped on the spot, before she hugged Demi.
Charlotte stunk and she was covered in thick, itchy sand that had matted her hair together.
Caught up in the excitement, Charlotte went to hug Margaret but she quickly stepped to the side causing Charlotte to fall flat on her face.
'Charlotte,' a voice she recognized said and she looked up to see that Charlie was standing over her, his hand held out towards her.
'Thanks,' she blushed, as she put her hand into his and helped her up to her feet.
'Congratulations,' he smiled, before he brushed back a strand of sand-coated hair.
He leaned in close to her so that she could feel his breath against her skin and then they both closed their eyes and moved in towards each other. Charlie gently kissed her on the cheek and held her tightly. The golden wand flew above their heads and gold hearts swooped out of it and swirled around them.
The others cheered and wolf-whistled, except for Margaret who watched the pair with a scowl on her face.
Chapter Three
The five girls were in the Great Hall of Alexander's College. They were sitting at a long bronze table opposite the boys’ team and their loo
ks of excitement were a vast change from the boys’ glum and disappointed looks.
Charlotte had showered twice since the challenge, yet she still kept finding grains of sand in her hair. She'd picked out a pretty black dress and Gerty had placed a red and white striped bow in her hair.
She felt bad that Gerty wasn't here...but at the same time she was grateful that she was. She smiled at Charlie and he smiled back at her, she found that she kept on glancing over at him, a fact that hadn't gone unnoticed by Margaret.
Giant silver platters were laid out in the middle of the tables and fresh food magically appeared on them for each course.
'So full,' Stef said, as she took another slice of chocolate cake and put it onto her plate.
'Then why are you eating that?' Alice asked.
'Because it's amazing,' Stef looked down at the cake, the gold glitter on top of the thick layer of chocolate icing was flickering.
Charlotte and Charlie caught each other’s eye, they looked dreamily at each other, large smiles on both of their faces. All of the other boys at their table looked miserable because they knew that they'd lost, except for Charlie who looked anything but.
'He def-in-it-ely likes you,' Stef whispered to Charlotte, her mouth full of cake.
Charlotte's smile grew large and her heart pounded faster.
'Will you two just become boyfriend and girlfriend already, your gooey looks are making me nauseous,' Harry grinned.
'You said she was gorgeous, but you didn't say she was THAT hot,' a red-haired boy said.
'Yeah Charlie boy, she's far too good for you,' the boy sitting next to Charlie said, before he play-hit his arm.
'Quit it guys,' he grinned, his focus not faltering away from Charlotte.
'Yeah, he definitely likes you,' Stef smirked.
A flash of color sparked up from the platform and everyone looked over at it. Alexander and Dale were standing there, a large golden trophy with wands intricately carved onto it was placed next to them.
'Welcome witches and wizards, it is a joy to see you all here to celebrate this grand occasion. Please can both of the teams from today's challenge join me on the stage.'
Both teams got out of their seats, Charlie lingered back and waited for Charlotte to reach him before he walked alongside her.
The hall erupted with whistling and hands thumping on tables.
'Okay, okay, calm down boys,' Alexander grinned. 'Right,' he looked at both teams.
'It is with great pleasure and also a hint of apprehension,' he chuckled. 'That I present the Golden Wand Trophy to Miss Moffat's Academy.'
Cheers and claps came from within the room as Dale passed Margaret the trophy. Charlotte went to put her hand on the handle but Margaret snatched it away from her.
'It was a thrilling competition, with a spectacular effort made by both teams. All of you showed great skill and I know that I speak for both Miss Moffat and myself when I say how proud we both are of you all. Alas, the witch team was just too good, but we'll attempt to beat you next year,' he grinned. 'Now, as a century old tradition dictates, the captain of both teams shall share a dance.'
A devious smirk appeared on Margaret's face, whilst a pang of jealously appeared on Charlotte's.
Alexander clapped his hands and a slow melody began.
Margaret shoved the trophy into Stef's hands, quickly patted down her cream floral dress and eagerly watched as Charlie walked over to her.
'May I?' Charlie held his hand out to her.
'Of course,' she smirked over at Charlotte as she took his hand.
Charlotte watched as he led her over into the central part of the stage and put his free hand on her waist. He twirled her around the floor and Charlotte diverted her gaze downwards. She longed for it to be her that he was dancing with, not Margaret.
Charlotte didn't want to get upset but she couldn't help it, a ball of envy had built up in her stomach and it was racing around like the ball in a pinball machine. A tear trickled down her cheek, she quickly wiped it away, but Stef had seen it.
'Lignum,' Stef discreetly flicked her wand at Margaret.
Charlie tried to let go of Margaret's hand but it wouldn't budge. There was a loud squelching sound and the more he tried to move his hand away the louder it became. Margaret's cheeks blushed crimson with embarrassment as she tried to yank her hand free. Laughter erupted from the onlookers and even Alexander was struggling to hide his chuckles. Charlie gave a hard yank on his hand and pulled it free, which caused Margaret to tumble onto her knees.
'Sorry,' Charlie whispered, as he quickly helped her back onto her feet and they continued to dance.
'Telarum,' Stef discreetly aimed her wand at Margaret.
Charlie spun her around but Margaret kept on whirling around like a spinning top. Alice felt dizzy watching her and quickly looked away, gripping her head.
Margaret reached out her hands to stop herself but it was no good, she kept on spinning on the spot with such speed that her feet burrowed through the wooden floor, and grey puffs of smoke appeared around her. Her dress had wrapped itself tightly around her legs so that she resembled a bandaged mummy.
Charlie looked on with dismay as Margaret continued to spin and more smoke rose up from the floor.
Alexander clapped his hands and the music stopped.
'Prohibere,' Stef flicked her wand.
Margaret came to an abrupt halt and a mixture of dizziness and her wrapped round dress caused her to wobble forwards, she flailed out her arms and managed to regain her balance so that she didn’t fall. She untwisted her dress and then she looked down to see that her shoes were embedded into the floor. She bent down and undid the buckles on her shoes before she scurried over to her team. She shot Charlotte a filthy look...but a smiling Charlotte just shrugged.
'Thank you Charlie for taking our esteemed girl's captain, Margaret, for a spin across the dance floor,' Alexander let out another chuckle.
The room erupted into cheers and applause and a Mexican wave made its way around the hall with bread rolls being thrown into the air.
'You'll pay,' Margaret whispered to Charlotte.
They headed back over to the table for after-dinner crackling fruit drinks and popping mints.
'So Margaret, would you like to come over and help me with my woodwork project?' Harry laughed.
'I don't really know much about woodworking,' Margaret forced a smile.
'Come on Margaret, you would save me hours with your drilling action.'
Charlie tried to hide his grin, as he hit Harry on the shoulder.
Margaret looked down at her red drink that crackled and it spat up at her, hitting her in the face. Everyone at the table (except Margaret) burst into laughter. And as the laughter got louder, so too did Margaret's anger grow in force.
'I'm sorry about them Margaret, they're immature idiots,' he passed a napkin over to her.
'Thanks,' she blushed, as she took it off him and wiped her face.
The pinball machine feeling had re-risen in Charlotte, as she watched on as Charlie continued to be nice to Margaret.
'Have a mint Charlotte,' Stef said, before she put one into her mouth and it popped and crackled loudly.
'So common,' Alice muttered under her breath.
'What was that Alice?' Stef smirked, before she put another mint into her mouth and leaned her head in close to Alice's as her mouth crackled.
Alice picked up a mint and threw it at Stef, but she missed and hit Demi by mistake.
'I'll get you for that,' Demi grinned, as she threw a mint back at Alice, hitting her on the chin.
Charlotte watched on, a slight smile on her face. It instantly faded when she looked over at Charlie, who was chatting away to Margaret.
***
Molly was standing in the entrance to the Grand Hall. She had her broomstick clutched in one hand and was twirling her wand with the other.
Three of the girls appeared to be in high-spirits, except for Charlotte and Margaret who were glaring at
each other.
The girls said goodbye to the boys and walked over to Molly. Margaret was holding the trophy and as Demi tried to take a closer look, Margaret twisted it away from her.
'I forgot how big that trophy is. Maybe it's best if I fly with it, I don't want you to break another broomstick,' Molly smirked, as she took the trophy off a reluctant Margaret.
Books for Girls - WITCH SCHOOL - Books 2-6: Book 1 is FREE! Page 20
